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Liquid Ammonia as Fuel

By Craig Shields
June 2, 2010 | 16 Comments

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I want to call attention to Laurenz Schmidt’s very thoughtful and detailed response to my recent post on liquid ammonia, which includes:

The infrastructure and technology to make and to use liquid ammonia is readily available today. Gas or diesel today is still a little cheaper but the gap is closing. At a diesel cost of about $7 at the pump green ammonia will be fully cost competitive without subsidies. I am afraid we will see that price soon. More at OceanEnergy.org.

Thanks very much for the astute analysis. Whenever I speak with Matt Simmons, he consistently reminds me of this site – and it truly is excellent. I’m wondering why there is so little other information available on the subject. You folks can’t be the only people who believe in this, can you?

There is no doubt that liquid ammonia represents a considerable advantage over hydrogen in terms of delivery infrastructure. I guess the real question is this: Do the most probable curves for cost-reduction and energy-density improvement in lithium batteries suggest that this (still fairly expensive) alternative is required? I know Matt thinks the answer is yes, but I’m not sure the battery chemists and the business people who support them would agree.

I'd appreciate any comments that shed light on this.

Green Power, Hydrogen - Fuel Cells, Other, Energy Efficiency

The information and views expressed in this blog post are solely those of the author and not necessarily those of RenewableEnergyWorld.com or the companies that advertise on this Web site and other publications. This blog was posted directly by the author and was not reviewed for accuracy, spelling or grammar.

16 Reader Comments

Comment
1 of 16

william-fitch-22587

June 2, 2010

Hi Craig:

I went to the Oceanenergy site and was prepared to search for NH3, but I saw no search tab or search spot. It could be, as often happens, people on the "inside" link to there own network through Intranet portals where as the outside world has to come in through Internet portals. The two can have different software which "look", "feel" and have different functions. At least that is one possible explanation....
If you google it, two nice links come up:
http://www.greennh3.com/nh3-as-a-fuel/nh3-as-a-fuel-research/
http://www.greennh3.com/

Same site of course, different tab....
Seems to be pretty good info...

.....Bill

Comment
2 of 16

LaurenzS

June 2, 2010

Bill, sorry for your inconvenience. You are right, our Ocean Energy site needs a little brush-up respective NH3. We will update the website to allow for easy access to the info that pertains to NH3 in the next few days. Meanwhile if you like to get the file and the reference table with the web links to very deep resource material on NH3 fuel, please advise by e-mail. I sent you a contact request message with my e-mail address.

Comment
3 of 16

jamie-schlinkmann-149155

June 2, 2010

Another site that has info about NH3's potential as a fuel is:

www.ammoniafuelnetwork.org

There is an annual conference that turns up an interesting crowd. The possibilities with NH3 are incredible. You have pointed out its potential role as a transportation fuel, but also think about firming intermittent renewable energy or even efficiently 'piping' stranded renewable resources to load centers without the electrical losses of HV transmission.

As great as is the potential, it is however not without its challenges. Electrolyzing H2 off of water and separating N2 from air to obtain the ingredients of NH3 are energy-intensive processes. The reaction that produces the NH3 is also not without issues.

While lots of people seem to be doing side projects associated with NH3 as a fuel, there seems to be no one (including the DoE) strongly investing in research to improve production or usage. I believe in its potential but the commercialization window seems too distant for private industry to make the investment bet at this point.

Jamie

Comment
4 of 16

william-fitch-22587

June 3, 2010

Hi:

At a basic level, its toxicity and the fact that it knocks your olfactory off the charts has been experienced by everyone. Sophisticated control in mfg and distribution is fine, but as always, what happens when the accident occurs... NH3 is on par with Chlorine gas which was used against soldiers in WWI. The thought of it in everyone's car is a bit disconcerting.... When a tank car "breaks" with gasoline in it, everyone runs in to clean it up carefully, no flame or sparks.... When a tank car "breaks" with Cl or NH3, everyone just runs.....

.....Bill

Comment
5 of 16

jamie-schlinkmann-149155

June 3, 2010

Bill,
You bring up a good point about toxicity. Although gaseous NH3 is quite harmful to breathe, it's not on par with chlorine gas. The organization I mentioned above commissioned a detailed safety study (by a leading private lab in the oil & gas industry) which concluded that it would be safer than gasoline as a fuel.

The nice thing, if there is such a thing, is that NH3 is not a carcinogen--long term exposure does not have any lasting effects. The toxicity comes to play because it reacts aggressively with water to form NH3OH, a very strong base. In your humid-air lungs the high PH is harmful to cells.

Also, if a tank car breaks (which has happened on several occasions), the resultant mess will eventually react back into its lowest energy state (water and air), insuring nothing toxic is left behind.

It does have a strong smell, but some consider that to make it safer.

Jamie

Comment
6 of 16

rosedsouza

June 3, 2010

There is no doubt that liquid ammonia represents a considerable advantage over hydrogen in terms of delivery infrastructure.
------------------
rose
Finance Capitalism

Comment
7 of 16

william-fitch-22587

June 3, 2010

Hi JS:

Good link here:
http://www.ccohs.ca/oshanswers/chemicals/chem_profiles/ammonia/health_ammonia.html

I would agree that it is not quite as bad as Chlorine, but far from benign...
As far as an independent lab, oil and gas ind. etc.. safer than gasoline... ... well, statements like that usually can mean what you want them to mean, "air travel is safer than cars", "Nukes are safer because they have less accidents than other plants", "in the interests of national security", etc, etc., on and on... The link above has allot of good info., but also points out that there are allot of areas where very few studies have been done or only a small amount of meaningful info. is available....
My general feeling is that any info. that comes from a corp./group that has "bean counters" and lawyers on the payroll, is subject to a very high level of bias for one, and is apt to place more value on the $, than in human well being and life... unfortunately, this leaves very few choices for unbiased info. left... in short, "No real accountability, No validity"..

.....Bill

Comment
8 of 16

jamie-schlinkmann-149155

June 3, 2010

Bill,
I completely agree with your comments questioning the validity of the statement I quoted. I believe their study is available for scrutiny but I did not get a copy. The Canada OHS site is a pretty good reference but I have also seen references to multiple animal studies before. Keep in mind that NH3 is the most commonly used synthetic chemical in existence--it is used as fertilizer. That is why we have pipelines for it that traverse the country already.

Gasoline for that matter is pretty far from benign though and I think most reasonably technical people would come to the conclusion that the positives of NH3 as a fuel outweigh the negatives. Your points are again valid and more work should be done if society should pursue this avenue of using NH3 for energy storage.

Jamie

Comment
9 of 16

william-fitch-22587

June 3, 2010

Hi Jamie:

Thank you for responding... I don't rule out NH3 as a fuel by any means, believe me.. the death toll and money in wars fought over oil (All sides, especially women and children) far exceeds a probable death toll from a national NH3 common fuel network accident. All things have to be thought of though... One last comment that I will just elude to is the other types of chemicals that can be made from NH3. I have a fairly strong background in inorganic chem and there is some nasty stuff that you can create from concentrated NH3 given the knowledge. Gasoline is pretty much it (flammable) in terms of where it can lead to... perhaps not a real big concern, but probably should be looked at if you are to make it available, no questions asked to everyone on the planet...

.....Bill

Comment
10 of 16

CraigShields

June 4, 2010

I'm interested in these comments, but I still have to re-pose my initial question: Why are so few people talking about this? If my post had been on hydrogen, it would be one of thousands of discussions on the subject. Why are there only one or two places to find ANYTHING on liquid ammonia -- especially given that it's endorsed by the estimable Matt Simmons? Again, what am I missing?

Comment
11 of 16

william-fitch-22587

June 4, 2010

Hi Craig:

I think the answer to that is easy. All you have to do is just look at your own question... I am not being sarcastic here. The answer is WHY as you put it, would there be thousands of discussions on the subject. Why do you know that to be true.?? And I agree, it would be true or is true if you wish.. Did Bush ever stand in front of Congress and say Ammonia..??.. You have to remember, like a hot stock, if everybody is talking about it, the powers at be have already made the choices and the big money has already been committed. The Public talk is all after the fact and has little to do with good Engineering or good solutions... although I would not be prepared to say, talk that is not public has to do with good solutions or good Engineering either...

.....Bill

Comment
12 of 16

jamie-schlinkmann-149155

June 4, 2010

Craig,
I wonder the same thing, exactly!

The hundred or so who attend the annual conference have representatives from big oil, Japanese auto makers, and the likes. Part of the problem lies in the fact that DoE will not recognize it as an alternative fuel. Another part may be that most of the supporters are engineers and scientists and nobody with marketing or business development savvy has really taken it on.

I urge you and the other interested readers to attend the upcoming conference in Detroit sponsored by the Iowa Energy Center:

http://www.energy.iastate.edu/Renewable/ammonia/ammonia/2010/NH32010.html

Jamie

Comment
13 of 16

CraigShields

June 4, 2010

Yes, and here's something else I've found: http://www.leightyfoundation.org/earth.php

Comment
14 of 16

jamie-schlinkmann-149155

June 4, 2010

Bill Leighty. He usually presents at the conference.

Comment
15 of 16

joswald94123

June 7, 2010

You can also learn more about NH3 created from biomass at www.SynGest.com

Comment
16 of 16

mechguru

June 9, 2010

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